Page 106 of Forbidden Grumpy Boss

Harvey shifts, guilt flickering across his face. “I convinced her that you’d made your choice. It was easy. I know my daughter, and I know when she’s in doubt. All I had to do was push the right buttons, and I knew it’d all come crumbling down.”

Rage flares inside me, a primal, sharp burn. “You made her think I’d just walk away.”

“She’s my daughter, Silas. I thought I was protecting her.”

“Protecting her?” My fists clench. “I wasn’t hurting her! I loved her! You lied to me that she took the goddamn deal you offered. You manipulated her into leaving. You took something you had no right to.”

He holds up a hand, and it sways a little. He’s always been a lightweight. “I didn’t see it then. I thought I was keeping her from heartache. From following someone who couldn’t give her what she deserved.”

“That’s rich coming from you, the father who wasn’t a dad.”

“Screw you!”

“And you still think that?” I take a step toward him, heart pounding, chest tight.

“Think what?”

“That I can’t give her what he deserves.”

Harvey’s jaw clenches, but his eyes soften. “Yes, I still do.”

“Then why the fuck are you here, Harvey?”

Silence.

My brain feels like it’s struggling to make sense of this revelation, the anger mixed with something like despair. “So, what?” I spit, barely holding back my rage. “Why now? What’s changed?”

For the first time, Harvey’s shoulders droop, the arrogance peeling away to reveal a man weighed down by his own choices. He downs the last of his drink, setting the glass down with a soft thud. He clears his throat, avoiding my gaze. “I don’t want her to go through this alone. If she’s not going to let me be there for her, at least she’ll let you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s pregnant, Silas. Leah’s carrying your child.”

My knees go weak, and I stumble back, bracing myself against the wall. Leah . . . pregnant? She hadn’t told me. Hadn’t said a word.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I just found out, too.”

Harvey nods, watching me, letting the silence stretch between us. I struggle to breathe, my mind whirling. Caleb’s going to have a sibling. Leah’s carrying my child, and she thought I’d left her behind, that I chose a deal over her.

It’s more than I can process.

“I’ll take that drink now,” I mutter, barely above a whisper.

Harvey pours, sliding the glass toward me. I grip it, feeling the cool burn slide down my throat, doing nothing to dull the raw, sharp ache inside me. We stand in silence, two former friends, nowanything but, each with our own regrets.

Harvey finishes his drink, setting the glass down with a firm clink, then steps closer, his face a mask of hardened resolve. “I give you my blessing, Silas.”

“I don’t need your blessing.”

“I give it to you regardless.” He holds my gaze. “If you hurt her, Silas.” He leans in, his voice low, deadly. “I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

I scoff, meeting his gaze, the old fire flaring back. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise.”

He leaves me in the wake of this knowledge, this truth that changes everything. For the first time in years, I don’t have the answer. My world has flipped, and Leah—Leah is all that matters.

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